Bloody Mess
by SlytherNoir
Summary: Marinette and Alya were ready for a fun night out. A double date in a fancy restaurant, with fine company as their dates. But, for infiltrated vampires, it's never that easy. And it always end up in a blood mess.


"Oh, darn blood!"

She stared hopeless at the mirror. If it had been a few decades ago, she wouldn't be able to see absolutely anything. But hey, now mirrors were made with aluminium. No silver, no worries.

She retorted her face a few times, cleaning the red substance from her chin. She was really a messy eater.

"Alya, how do I look?" she asked, turning to her friend. Her pale face and bright purple eyes were filled with worry, and she couldn't help but pout a little bit.

Alya looked back from the mirror, trying to look at imperfections. "There's nothing wrong, girl." And then she went back to retouching her blush. It was easy to fit among humans now, but she had to pay special attention to her make up. Nobody wants to hang out with vamps anymore, right?

"Uh okay…" said Marinette, staring back. She reapplied her foundation, trying to give a more even tone over her pale skin. Why did she have to be so clumsy???

"Let's go back, the boys are waiting!" said Alya, clicking her purse. They've been hanging out with Adrien and Nino a lot now. The boys didn't know they were vamps, of course, but hey, they were just too fun for them to give up.

"Kay!" smiled Mari, also closing her clutch.

It was a really fancy restaurant - perfect for a double date. Marinette and Adrien, and also Alya and Nino. The girls had their best dresses and their eye liner game on point. The only thing they weren't counting on was for their steak to be "rare" instead of "well done". But hey, a little blood doesn't hurt no one, right?

"Hey there again, girls!" grinned Adrien.

"We almost thought you had ditched us!" joked Nino, taking another sip of his wine.

They both smiled at their dates silliness, and Marinette promptly answered: "Of course not!"

"We wouldn't have the hearts to do this to such fine gentleman like you!" said Alya, playfully, as they took their seats back.

"You're just in time for the dessert" commented Nino, taking his partner's hand, making her smile.

Marinette and Alya were really young in the vampire community - they were both just 120 years or so. It was not that much time, and honestly, they were pretty young and naive. It wasn't really much of a surprise how they got along so well with the young people of Paris. They looked 20, and they were really pretty, with their vibrant eyes and playful smiles. Most humans liked them, and it was really helpful for their jobs, Alya as the number 1 reporter of TF1 and Marinette as one of the most acclaimed designers in France.

It was because of Marinette that they met Adrien and Nino too.

She had lots of designs, going through all the ages she had seen, and they were really impressive, specially the ones mixing tendencies. With the new internet wave, she decided to give it a try, and post her designs online on a Instagram account. Her works caught a lot of attention, and she became so popular that that quickly grew to the interest of one of the biggest names on the industry, Gabriel Agreste.

He contacted her, and said he would like to help her launch her own line. Her enthusiastic agreement was all it took for Gabriel to give her a huge start on her career, even making his own son, Adrien, model for her. They became friends quickly, and soon, something else. Her career was going through the roof too - of course she knew she would have to be off the market (again) soon, but hey, at least she was getting it going for now, and enjoying her fame. And her new "friends".

The waiter soon arrived with four neatly arranged verrines. It was one of Marinette's favorite dishes, and she was excited to see what this one would be about.

"Here you go, ladies and gentlemen! Tonight's special, the Bloody Mess Verrine! Bon appétit!"

Marinette stared at her dessert, utterly confused. It had lots of red, the base cream, the strawberries, a red macaroon, red chantilly, red sparkles… it really looked like a mess. A perfectly displayed mess, but still. And like blood. She looked at Alya, who seemed as surprised as she was.

"Don't worry about the name." said Adrien, shaking his spoon in their direction. "It's truly delicious." he smiled and took a little more.

Well, he was the one to suggest Le Minuit. How it was a family tradition to go there in special occasions. He should know what he was talking about. She took a little bit and - yes, it was blood. She knew it. Her parents always made goat blood macaroons for her when she was a little girl, she would recognize the taste anywhere. Almost everything had blood in that dish - except for the strawberries. But they sure were a great addition. She smiled and started eating for real.

"See, I told you, it's amazing!" said Adrien. He was smiling like a fool, staring at her bright blue eyes. She was wearing contacts, of course. Violet isn't exactly a common eye color among humans, and she was hella sure her eyes stood out even more. "You know…" he started, putting down his spoon, "I knew right away what you guys were." Nino was still eating silently, a smile across his face.

Marinette and Alya both turned out to him, shocked. Oh no. This wouldn't end up well. They were disguising themselves so hard for so long, now this little brat had to come and spoil everything? No way. It didn't matter if he was just a fool or a hunter - both ways, now them both had been exposed.

Everyone knew about the vampires - they had been a plague for too long, before agreeing to distance themselves from humanity and live secluded, in the most hostile places. But every now and then some vamps tried to get inside the human society - it was a better place, of course, and there were blood dealers in all the big cities, transporting living goats and pigs as substitutes. There even some stories about coconut dealers in the tropics - some genius figured out coconut water had almost the same energy as blood, and now it was a common cocktail.

But it was not just fun and games - hunters were everywhere in the globe searching for those who dared to infiltrate. They were merciless, and always shoved the vampires they caught in the nearest community, even if it wasn't their hometown. But the vamps were well aware of this - they wore make up to disguise their paleness, contacts to hide the reddened tones of their eyes, and polished their teeth until the canines didn't point out anymore. They faked their deaths, and retreated, only to come around again later, and they were careful to interact with so many prestige humans that they were one by association. They did everything they could to disguise themselves. And yet, it never seemed to work out.

"Come with us." he said, getting up. Nino followed his lead, getting up as well and waving for the waiter to come. Alya and Marinette looked at each other as they got up, trying to think of something. Their eyes were scanning everywhere, and they were trying their best to contain their shaking shoulders. They were ready to fight.

The air was heavy with tension as the waiter arrived. He took their plates and a couple hundred euros, and Adrien and Nino offered their arms to the girls. Marinette bit her lip hesitantly before she took Adrien's arm, nodding to Alya with fire in her eyes. 'Get ready to fight, Marinette.' she thought to herself. Her heart was beating faster. That was not good. The faster her heart beats, the faster she would need more blood. At that rate, she wouldn't even have a week like she used to. She needed to get them out of that situation, and she needed to do it quickly.

Marinette was shivering as they walked down the street. It was almost midnight: there was nobody on the streets, and despite the many lampposts, the atmosphere was dark and oppressive.

"This way." said Adrien, nodding to a dark alley. The raven-head took a deep breath, tightening her right hand's grip on the blond's arm. She could feel her free hand closing over itself, clenching into a fist. By her side, she could hear Alya's breathing get faster. She was ready to fight too.

They entered the dark corridor, and Marinette immediately closed her hand around Adrien's wrist, spinning herself and twisting his arm as she set herself behind him, her left arm around his neck, dangerously close to suffocating him. She looked to her side, and noticed how Alya had immobilized the other one almost the same way. Their almost 12 decades of existence weren't for nothing: they were masters when it came to fighting, and these boys couldn't do anything against them.

"What do we do now, Mari?" asked the brunette, confident. They could easily kill them and go away: they would need to go away from that city, of course, but at least they wouldn't get caught. But there was something about the whole situation that made the designer hesitate. Maybe it was the whole adrenaline through her veins. Maybe it was hunger. But maybe, and this was what she feared was the truth, it was how calm and collected Adrien and Nino were acting. They weren't even caring. And it scared her. It scared her really bad.

"Alya, I'm not really liking this. It's not right."

She looked around, concerned. Her friend's words made every sense: it didn't smell right, something was off. Alya nodded, swallowing hard.

"Why are you so calm?" Interrogated Marinette, leaning closer to her prisioner's neck. She wanted to scare him, but her rapid eyes and sweating gave her away: she was the afraid one.

"Well, you see," started him, a smile across his face. His cockiness annoyed her, and most of all, it made her uneasy. "Nino and I, you can't really touch us. What you think my father will do if his prize child gets murdered in a dark alley? Even more with his best friend there to watch…" Marinette was getting apprehensive. Anybody could walk in on that place at any time.

"What do you want?" She asked, trying to cover the fear in her voice.

"Nothing, actually."

She pushed herself back, confused, but still making sure her so-called date wouldn't escape. Glancing at Alya, she could see Adrien's words didn't make any sense to her either. It was like talking to a lunatic.

"Dude, did you forgot about…"

"Oh yeah, of course! Thanks, Nino." He turned his head around a bit, trying to face his captor. His green eyes were sparkling, seeing more menacing than everything. "We want you guys to come with us! Really simple, huh?"

"What? Why?!" she exclaimed, twisting the blond's arm a bit more.

"Ouch" he said, more playful than hurt. "We need company! Also, it's hard to see people like us here."

The last phrase made Marinette back away, shocked. Adrien smiled a little more and twisted his dislocated arm back in place, letting out a light gasp. Alya let go of Nino too, who was already massaging his hurt arm.

"What, why are you so shocked? You didn't think you were the only ones in town, did you?"

He walked until Marinette, offering his arm again. It seemed so innocent… but she wasn't convinced yet. And it seemed Alya wasn't either. They were around for more than a hundred years. They learned best than to just trust anyone.

"Show us your marks then." She said, looking right in his eyes.

"The… marks?" he repeated. He didn't know what they were talking about.

"Yes, the marks. You know, every vampire has then." she continued, grinning a little, like he was just playing silly.

"Yeah, we are just curious!" said Alya, playfully. Marinette smiled a little more, mentally thanking her friend for getting into her game.

"Oh, yeah of course!" He laughed, maintaining eye contact with Marinette. He pulled his collar a bit, showing two dots in the side of his neck. Mari could see Nino mimicking his movements, showing pretty similar markings in his own neck.

The girl's smiles grew wider, and from were they were standing, it seemed like their eyes were glowing, their faces covered by the shadows. "Silly boy." purred the raven-head as she got closer.

"This is a movie thing" completed the brunette, as they jumped in their direction. Nobody even heard their screams.

The next day, it was all over the news how Adrien Agreste, the promising model whose career had just started, and his best friend, the new sensation DJ Nino Lahiffe, were found dead in a dark alley near one of the most famous restaurants in Paris, Le Minuit.

The place was disgusting: there was blood all around, and it seemed like they were repeatedly stabbed, beaten and crawled. Their clothes were torn apart in multiple places, and they were severely pale. It was messy and cruel.

Gabriel Agreste had set a high reward for any information that could lead to his son's killer, but the last people seen with the victims, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Alya Césaire, were missing.

The police suspected they both got kidnapped, as little straps of satin and one of Ms. Césaire's earrings were found near the dead bodies.

The officers also set a hotline for anyone who had any information about the whereabouts of the two girls. But aside from their promising careers and their contacts with Mr. Agreste, nobody knew anything about them.

It was like they had vanished from the map.


End file.
